Building an e-commerce website with just Google Sheets, no coding required, no cost, completely free

In today’s digital age, online business is incredibly common. For large brands or well-established enterprises with financial resources, investing in e-commerce platforms or sophisticated websites may be a given in the business world. However, for small-scale individual entrepreneurs or those operating primarily on social media platforms like Facebook or Instagram, although there are advantages such as no fees compared to selling on established platforms, there are also certain limitations, particularly in inventory management. This is especially true for businesses like second-hand shops with limited quantities of items.

In 2023, I had the need to open a small, charming online shop as an individual entrepreneur. Therefore, I searched for information to address this issue, ensuring two criteria:

Having a website for selling products that looks professional and organized. My basic requirement is to receive orders and ensure inventory quantities to avoid situations where I run out of stock when someone places an order. As a small-scale entrepreneur, I have products that are often in limited quantities, with some items having only 1-2 pieces, so it’s quite cumbersome when someone orders before another.
Free of charge.

Given my non-IT background and not having a coding-savvy partner, I scoured the internet for ways to set up a free online store. However, from YouTube to most blogs, the focus was on two keywords: WooCommerce or Shopify, which did not meet my initial conditions as they require money and their implementation process is quite complex and time-consuming.

Fortunately, during my search, I found a solution from No Code School – using Store.link – a simple solution where all I need to do is enter accurate product information into a Google Sheet. The advantage of this solution not only meets my initial criteria but also helps me address additional issues:

Listing products professionally and clearly and managing sales data scientifically
No cost & no coding skill required.
Save time with automated notifications.

Furthermore, recently when I went to buy groceries, the shop owner was not there, so her daughter was selling instead. Since she didn’t know the prices, the girl had to constantly call her parents to check the prices. At that moment, I thought, “If there was an Excel file/Google Sheet, everything would be different.” I just realized the importance of managing product information, inventory quantities in a scientific and easily searchable manner, even for small-scale businesses operated by individuals. Therefore, through sharing this article, I hope it will be useful for everyone, especially those who are currently or intending to start their own online business as individuals without much capital, desiring to have a professional, organized website, and provide a better experience for customers.

For details on the initial setup with Store.link, please click on each image to view. Here, I won’t go into detail on every small step, so it’s best for everyone to try it out. If you need support or encounter any difficulties at any point, please comment on this post, and I’ll provide further assistance if possible.